Britney Spears isn't limiting her writing to her Web site -- the singer scrawled a missive on the wall of a Hollywood shop, alerting readers that her husband, Kevin Federline, is "the sexiest man alive." In capital letters, Spears also noted while photographers captured the moment, "Britney Spears wuz here with her fine hubby." ...

Lil' Flip is being sued for copyright infringement yet again. According to reports, Louisiana songwriter/producer Tommy Granville is suing the Houston MC for $1.5 million in damages and an unspecified amount for alleged willful infringement of Granville's copyrights. The suit alleges that Flip used three of Granville's melodies, without permission, for his Columbia debut, Undaground Legend. Earlier this year, NamCo America, the owner of the "Pac-Man" video-game franchise, filed a $10 million lawsuit against Flip for sampling sounds from "Pac-Man" for his hit "Game Over." Representatives for Columbia Records, Lil' Flip's label, declined to comment. ... Want to work for Good Charlotte? For no money? Well, you're in luck! Because over at DCFlagRecords.com, the Web site for Benji and Joel Madden's record label, they're taking applications for "people all over North America to help run our record co." Duties include "working with our worldwide street team" and "gorilla marketing," all for no pay. Just send the band an e-mail stating "in 25 words or less ... what you are willing to do," and the boys will take it from there. ...

Gwen Stefani is offering a unique incentive to pre-order her upcoming album -- if you buy Love, Angel, Music, Baby in advance at in advance at Musictoday.com, you'll get a free limited-edition T-shirt that she's custom designed. The black shirt features the singer's new logo, with the phrase "Love, Angel, Music, Baby" written on the front and back. ... "The Devil's Rejects," the new film from director/occasional musician Rob Zombie, is set for an August release. The film, a sequel to Zombie's 2003 gorefest "House of 1000 Corpses," was originally due in theaters in February of next year, but Zombie announced last week that the film would not be ready by that date. ...

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea will speak at the second annual We the Planet Music & Activism Festival, which will take place Saturday in Oakland, California. Already on the lineup are the Roots, Third Eye Blind, Joan Baez, the Coup, Michelle Shocked and Mickey Hart. The festival, which will include workshops on civil disobedience and building grass-roots movements, will run primarily on solar power and generators using biodiesel fuel. ... Madonna, who released her fourth children's book, "The Adventures of Abdi," this week, plans on putting out the fifth and final book of the series, "Lotsa De Casha," in June. She's also releasing a box set of her first three children's titles ("The English Roses," "Mr. Peabody's Apples" and "Yakov and the Seven Thieves") this holiday season, according to her publisher. ...

Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), who was removed from a flight and asked to leave the U.S. in September when his name appeared on a terrorism watch list, will be honored with the Man for Peace award from a foundation headed by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, according to The Associated Press. A press release from the Gorbachev Foundation said the singer will receive the prize "for his dedication to promote peace, the reconciliation of people and to condemn terrorism" at a ceremony on Wednesday. ... Zone.MSN.com offers the chance for you to see if there's something you should know with its latest quiz-show-style game, "OutSmart Duran Duran," in which you're pitted against Simon LeBon and Roger Taylor, answering questions about everything from Alfred Hitchcock to the Notorious B.I.G. If the Wild Boys are too tough for you, try one of the other stars who lent their smarts to the pre-existing "OutSmart" games, like Beyoncé, Fantasia or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. ...

Kids everywhere might drop a hint to their parents by giving them the new Snow Patrol DVD with the long-winded title of "Mums and Dads of the World Be Patient With Your Children," due November 23. Coinciding with the home video is the DualDisc re-release of the band's latest album, Final Straw. Meanwhile, in memory of the late John Peel, the band has made its cover of the Undertones' "Teenage Kicks," purported to be Peel's favorite song, available on its Web site. ... MxPx are releasing a DVD this fall that they consider to be the culmination of an era for them. The "B Movie" DVD, out November 23, shows the band touring Europe and Japan, working in the recording studio and performing a special homecoming show at Seattle's Graceland in September. "This is coming out at the right time for us," singer Mike Herrera said in a statement. "If we never did anything again, it's something worthy for us to leave people with." They don't plan on never doing anything again, though -- the group is also working on an album due next summer. ...

11.08.2004

Word out of the Outkast camp is that the duo have a title for their next album: 10 the Hard Way. Big Boi has been saying in radio interviews that the album is in the process of being recorded and will feature 10 songs that return to a raw rap style. He and Andre 3000 still plan on dropping a soundtrack to their long-awaited -- long, long-awaited -- HBO movie, "My Life in Idlewild," beforehand. That movie is currently filming in North Carolina. ...

An unabashed love for the Insane Clown Posse has landed two junior juggalos in hot water. On Friday morning, two students at Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, spray-painted the walls of the school with "ICP logos and writing consistent with the gangs following" the group, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department. When the students were identified and suspended, other students decided to protest the decision, resulting in six other suspensions for "disruptive behavior." The school also received word of a "pending gun threat from the ICP/Juggalo gang," though the threat never materialized. ... Hilary Duff is one of the many celebrities who have contributed to a new children's book by Marlo Thomas, "Thanks & Giving: All Year Long." The book, which benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, features poems, short stories, illustrations and songs by the likes of Tiger Woods, Maurice Sendak, Donald Trump and Kevin Bacon. ... Trick Daddy and Trina showed some down-bottom love to Jay-Z on Friday in Miami. The two MIA natives performed as part of the Jay-Z and Friends outing at the American Airlines Arena. P. Diddy, Mary J. Blige and Busta Rhymes were a few of the pals who rolled with Jay Saturday night at Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum and Sunday at Jacksonville's Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. ...

Alicia Keys is "the real deal," according to Glamour magazine, which has just named the winners for its 15th annual Women of the Year Awards. The awards ceremony, which will take place Monday (November 8) at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, will air on Saturday as a one-hour syndicated TV special hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Keys will be presented with the Real Deal award by Natalie Cole, Kate Winslet will be handed the Class Act award by Susan Sarandon and MTV Networks Chairman and CEO Judy McGrath will be presented the Mogul award by Jon Stewart. Keys will also perform at the event. ... Jessica Simpson covers a lot of Christmas standards on her upcoming holiday-themed album, Rejoyce, but one song is not a Christmas classic -- yet. Simpson co-wrote "It's Christmas Time Again" with her husband, Nick Lachey (with whom she duets on Dean Martin's "Baby, It's Cold Outside"). Other songs include "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow," "O Holy Night," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "What Child Is This" and "Little Drummer Boy," a duet with her sister, Ashlee. ...

Wyclef Jean brings his all-star jam session to DVD with "Wyclef Jean's All Star Jam at Carnegie Hall." Due December 7, the DVD features performances from Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton and Macy Gray, among others. The show benefited Clef's Kids, a performing-arts sponsorship program for New York City children. ... Kylie Minogue has branched out from her lingerie collection, Love Kylie, and has launched a hosiery line as well, called LK Legs. Minogue ushered in the line in central London's Cavendish Square on Wednesday, along with a preview of her spring/summer 2005 Love Kylie collection, which has grown to include DD cups. ...

Fatboy Slim, in support of his new album, Palookaville, starts his tour in Chicago on Friday, but before he hits the road, he'll hit the TV. In his first live televised performance in the U.S., Slim will perform with a band Tuesday on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," which airs weeknights at 12:35 a.m. ET. His next single will be "Wonderful Night," which is currently being used in an Olympus camera ad. ... Goth-punkers AFI have a bone to pick with their former label, Nitro Records. On their Web site, the band writes, "To any fans who may have bought Nitro Records' AFI Anthology, we would like you to know that the decision to create this compilation was made solely by Nitro ... it was not the band's decision to compile, create or promote a 'retrospective' at this point in our career ... we are much more focused on creating our new record for our fans." The anthology collects tracks from AFI's mid-'90s albums and EPs. Nitro Records had no comment on the matter. ...

Now that the Brian Jonestown Massacre have a new lease on life thanks to the documentary "Dig!," leader Anton Newcombe and his merry band will release their first greatest-hits collection, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective, on November 16. The two-disc set contains 38 tracks culled from the 14 albums released during the group's eight-year career. ... Meshuggah, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Mastodon are among the metal bands set to pay tribute to the Melvins, one of the first bands to merge heavy metal and punk rock. We Reach: The Music of the Melvins is expected to be ready in May. ...

MF Doom (a.k.a. King Gheedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X and Daniel Dumile) has signed an exclusive record deal with indie label Rhymesayers Entertainment. The first offering from the new deal will be Doom's MM ... Food. Due November 16, the album marks Doom's first solo record since 1999's Operation Doomsday. Doom has lined up a string of shows to promote the album. The tour, which will also feature Brother Ali, will kick off on November 15 in Chicago and wrap on November 24 in New York. ...